The National Guard survivor shot by a sniper last week near the White House gave medical staff a “jewel” sign when they asked him if he could hear them and also wiggled his toes in response, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said Monday.
Morrisey said 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, one of two West Virginia National Guard members shot Wednesday, remains in serious condition.
“Andrew is still fighting for his life,” Morrisey told reporters at a news conference. “Andrew needs prayers.”
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Sarah Beckstrom, 20, the other West Virginia National Guard member shot last week, died Thursday.
The two were deployed to Washington after US President Donald Trump sent National Guard forces to the capital in August.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Sunday that the shooting suspect, 29-year-old Afghan Rahmanullah Lakanwal, became radicalized after he and his family moved to the US in 2021.
Lakanwal, who faces first-degree murder and other charges, was shot and injured during the attack.
He moved to the U.S. under a Biden administration program that resettled about 70,000 Afghans who helped the U.S. during the 20-year war in their homeland. The US withdrew in 2021 when the Taliban took control.
Lakanwal, who was part of a CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan, was granted asylum by Trump.
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In response to the shooting, Trump announced a halt to migration from “Third World countries” and ordered the US to stop processing visas for Afghan citizens.
Investigators, looking for a motive for Lakanwal’s attack, said he drove across the country from his home in Washington state and shot the two guards with a .357 Magnum revolver before being wounded by other soldiers.
Morrisey, a Republican, on Monday defended the National Guard’s mission in Washington, DC, and other cities run by Democrats, which critics see as a politicized move by Trump. The governor stated that all 170 members of the West Virginia Guard who are in the capital volunteered for the mission.
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“They’re volunteering because they believe in the mission,” Morrisey said.
